Worship Wednesday - Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace


His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free
A few years ago, one of our church members, Joan Morrow, gave me a couple of books that tell the stories behind hundreds of well-known hymns. So I thought I'd use this platform to share some of the stories that make the songs even more meaningful.

"Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" was written by a lady named Helen Howarth Lemmel in 1922. And get this - she was blind! Helen was born in England, moved to the states when she was 12, moved to Germany later to study vocal performance, got married and then moved back to the states where she was a professional singer and vocal teacher.

A few years later, she was diagnosed with a condition that would lead her to blindness, and her husband left her. Imagine the pain! A friend of hers shared a piece of literature with that was written about 30 years earlier by a woman named Lillias Trotter, which said, ‘So then, turn your eyes upon him, look full into his face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness’.

Helen immediately had the chorus of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" in her head. She didn't even need real "eyes" to live out the meaning of this song. Singing this song always helps return me to a greater perspective. So often the things of this world become forefront in our vision, mind, desires, etc. But those things will fail us. Jesus is faithful. When we look to him or "turn on our upon" him, the significance of our worries and stresses and concerns of this world seem to dim/fade. 

2 Comments


Cindy McNeill - October 10th, 2021 at 11:09pm

I love the old hymns. Brings back good memories.

A tragic situation led her to write those beautiful lyrics!

Joey Williams - October 13th, 2021 at 3:17pm

I agree Cindy! Me too. And the ones that last the test of time typically do because of their solid truth.